Portable wardrobe



July 1936. F. G. BARBEE PORTABLE WARDROBE Filed Aug. '7, 1954 Patented July 7, 1936 OFFIQE Claims.

This invention relates to wardrobes and the object of the invention is to provide a portable wardrobe which will accomodate dresses, suits, hats, shoes, and other articles of wearing apparel 5 and which may be easily knocked down so as to occupy a minimum of space and as easily set up for use when desired.

Another object of. the invention is to provide a portable wardrobe in which the contained articles of wearing apparel will be fully protected from dust and soot and yet be readily accessible.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knockdown wardrobe which is strong. and light in weight and which may be readily transformed into its knockdown state when it is desired to store or crate the'same for shipping.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knockdown wardrobe which has supporting means for all the necessary articles of wearing apparel and which is attractive in appearance and efficient in service.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a portable wardrobe with a novel drapery attaching means.

I accomplish the above, and other objects of the invention which will be apparent as thedcscription proceeds, by means of the construction shown in the accompanying drawing, in which: I

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the portable wardrobe constituting my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the upper portion of the frame structure of the wardrobe;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the entire frame structure of the wardrobe;

Fig. 4 is a top plan of the upper frame and associated parts of the wardrobe, the hat shelf being omitted;

Fig. 5 is a section through the upper frame structure, the drapery and the canopy;

Fig. 6 is a perspective of a corner of the up er frame structure; and

Fig. 7 is a section through the cross beam and support.

On the drawing, in which like reference characters indicate like parts on all the views thereof, l indicates the supporting base which is provided with casters 2 to facilitate its easy movement from one position to another. Detachably supported in the socket 3 in the supporting base is an upright 4, being held therein by the set screw 5. An upper frame 6 of suitable material, preferably metal, is herein shown as constructed of four angular members, each having a vertical flange l and a horizontal flange 8, the members being overlapped at the corners of the frame and welded or riveted to each other. The hori- Zontal flanges of the angular members are formed to present a continuous flush upper surface; this is accomplished by offsetting the end of the ho-ri- 5 zontal flange of an angular member a distance equal to its thickness so as to form a seat for the overlapping end of the adjacent angular member, as is shown in Fig. 6. While the frame is herein shown as composed of four members, it 10 is apparent that it might be made of one or two members only without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The frame 6 is provided with a crossbar 9 of channel formation to which is secured the 15 socket it which serves as a seat for the upper end of the upright 4.

Brackets H, H, are secured to the long sides of the frame 6 and extend downwardly and in- Wardly towards the upright 4 to which they are 20 secured by the bolt l2.

A hat shelf i3 is supported from the frame by means of links M which have hooks l5 resting in notches in the frame and embracing the vertical flanges thereof. Eyes Iii on the links are secured 25 to the hat shelf. The arrangement is such that when the hooks I5 are lifted clear of the notches in' the frame, the links may be collapsed against the hat shelf.

Two links it? are provided for supporting the 30 ends of the garment hanger rod Iii, the links being formed with hooks at their upper ends by means of which they are attached to the frame 5. The links it! are also formed with eyes 28 at their lower ends in which the ends of the garment 5 hanger rod rest, and detachable caps 2i may be provided for the rod if desired. Any other suitable means for connecting the garment hanger rod to its suspension links might be substituted for those shown and described. The garment .0 hanger rod 59 passes through an opening in the upright 4 and is held therein by means of a set screw 22, thus providing a central rigid support for the garment hanger rod. It is also to be noted that the links l8 pass through the 45 hat shelf and thus provide additional means for stabilizing the shelf, the main stabilizer for the shelf being the upright 4 which passes through the shelf centrally. The garment hanger rod i9 is disposed at a suitable height above 50 the base so that the garments supported thereby may hang full length well above the floor.

It will thus be seen that the main supporting elements of my improved portable wardrobe are few in number, namely a base, an upright, an 55 upper frame, a hat shelf and a garment hanger rod, all of which are securely though detachably connected together, thus providing a light, strong and stable skeleton structure.

The drapery 23 is formed with a hem at its upper edge through which a cord 24, or other flexible member, is run, the cord being disposed taut around the vertical flange l and resting upon the horizontal flange 8, thereby attaching the drapery to the frame 6 while permitting the drapery to overhang the edge of the flange 8.

A detachable canopy is provided for the wardrobe, which canopy comprises a cover member 25 having a depending frame 28 to which is secured an ornamental member 21. The frame is of suitable size to surround and embrace the upper edge of the drapery and th cord 24 supported by the frame 6, thereby holding the upper edge of the drapery against the vertical flange of the frame thereby preventing sagging of the drapery resulting from pulls or jerks. The lower edge of the frame 25 is spaced sufficiently above the horizontal flange of the frame 6 to permit the passage of the drapery but sufficiently close to prevent the cord from being pulled away from the flange 1, as is shown in Fig. 5. The ornamental molding 2? provides a neat and attractive appearance for the upper portion of the wardrobe and is of such width that it extends downwardly below the frame 6, thereby protecting the drapery from being damaged by contact with the edge of the horizontal flange 8 of the frame 6. The canopy may be secured to the frame 6 by means of any suitable device, not shown on the drawing. it is to be noted that the canopy rests on top of the frame, and may be secured thereto, thereby preventing detachment of the hooks from the frame.

Hooks 28 are disposed in suitable positions on the upright i for the support of such articles as are not suitably suspended by coat hangers, as for example laundry bags, pajamas, bathrobes, etc. Certain of these hooks 28 are located directly below the hat shelf where they serve as a central support for the shelf.

A shoe tray is disposed Within the base I and provided with an opening for the socket 3. It is obvious that the base I might be made in the form of a tray, thereby obviating the necessity of a tray separate from the base.

The frame structure of my improved portable wardrobe may be formed from any desired material, and the hat shelf and shoe tray constructed of any suitable light weight material, while the drapery can be made from fabric of the color of the draperies and color scheme of the room in which it is tobe placed, thus adding a pleasing note to the furnishings of the room.

Having thus described my invention, what I new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

l. A wardrobe comprising an upper supporting frame, constructed of angle members each having one flange disposed vertically and the other disposed outwardly, draperies attached to said frame by means of a flexible member extended through a hem on the upper edge of said draperies, and drawn taut around the vertical flange of the frame, and a canopy having a depending frame disposed over the supporting frame, the frame of the canopy embracing the upper edge of the draperies and the cord and holding them firmly in position.

2. A knockdown wardrobe comprising a base, an upright detachably mounted at its lower end in said base, an upper structure, said upper structure comprising an outlining frame, across bar secured to said frame, a socket carried by said cross bar in which the upper end of said upright is removably received, a plurality of diagonal brace members secured to said frame at their outer ends, the inner ends of said brace members being shaped to surround said upright and secured thereto a garment hanger rod extending through said upright, and means for connecting the rod to the frame.

3. A knockdown wardrobe comprising a base, an upright detachably mounted at its lower end in said base, an upper frame structure, means on said frame structure for removably receiving the upper end of said upright, a hat shelf, links detachably connected to said frame structure, said links being pivotally connected to said hat shelf, a canopy having a substantially rigid portion resting on said frame structure, said canopy preventing the detachment of said links from said frame structure and overlying the connection of the links thereto.

4. In a portable wardrobe, a base, an upper rectangular frame, an upright detachably connected to said base and frame, said frame comprising a plurality of members, each of which has a vertical flange and a horizontal flange, the flanges of said members overlapping at the corners of the frame, the horizontal flange of one of any two adjacent members having an offset portion in which the end portion of the horizont-al flange of the other adjacent member is received and secured to provide a continuous flush horizontal surface, and a drapery having its upper edge portion resting on said continuous flush horizontal surface and secured around the vertical flange of the frame.

5. A knockdown wardrobe comprising a supporting base, an upper rectangular frame including a central cross member, an upright detachably connected to said base and said central cross member, diagonal braces connected to said frame and said upright, a hat shelf, a garment hanger rod below said hat shelf and passing through said upright, a set of links for detachably supporting said hat shelf from said frame, a set of links for detachably supporting said garment hanger rod from said frame, the upright and the links for the garment hanger rod passing through said hat shelf to stabilize the same.

FREDERIC GEORGE BARBEE 

